Front Page MLB Picks (Sat., Sep 6)

[Willie Bee]

Lackey & Floyd keep Angels & White Sox Under 9

Game Time: 09/06/2008 07:05 PM -
By: Bob Harvey | bobharveysports.com

Tonight's Angels, White Sox game features a couple of solid pitchers in John Lackey and Gavin Floyd, and the combination should keep Saturday's tilt below the total.

I’m looking for a nice bounce-back effort from the Los Angeles Angels tonight on the road as they take on the Chicago White Sox.

Chicago took last night’s series opener as the Halo’s used spot starter Dustin Mosley in place of the injured Jered Weaver. As expected, the Pale Hose lit up Mosely like some Fourth of July fireworks. Don’t expect a repeat though, not with the Angels' big stud John Lackey going to the hill. Lackey is 11-3 with a 3.10 ERA and has proved to be a stopper his entire career. He’ll be opposed by one of the “young guns” on this Chicago staff, 15-game winner Gavin Floyd.

I look for this one to be a low-scoring affair for several reasons. The Under is 22-7-3 in Lackey’s last 32 outings. The Under is 7-1 in the last eight series meetings and 16-5 in their last 25 series meetings. The White Sox also lost one of their big offensive weapons this week when Carlos Quentin suffered a “temper related” broken-wrist. Quentin slammed his right hand on the bat he was holding in his left hand after fouling off a pitch against Cliff Lee Monday night. He was batting .288 with an American League-leading 36 homers and a team-high 100 RBIs.

The Angels are 4-4 against Chicago this year and 2-2 at U.S. Cellular Field. They’ve got the best road record in baseball at 42-27. They’ve accomplished that with great starting pitching and Lackey has lead the way. Floyd with his 15 wins and an ERA of 3.61 is a big reason the White Sox leads the AL Central. Runs figure to be at a premium in today’s contest. Go with the Under.

Free Pick: Angels-White Sox Under 9 (-115)

[Willie Bee]

St. Louis Cardinals -142 hang a loss on Florida Marlins

Game Time: 09/06/2008 07:15 PM -
By: Matt Fargo | sportspic.com

After last night's tough loss in extra frames, look for the St. Louis Cardinals to bounce back into the winner's circle at home this evening when they host the Florida Marlins.

The Cardinals are coming off a tough loss last night in extra innings but have a great chance to get it back tonight. Despite the recent skid, St. Louis remains in the Wild Card hunt as they trail the Brewers by six games and the Phillies by two games. With just 21 games remaining, it will be a task to get it done but the remaining schedule sets up pretty well. Even with the setback last night, the Cardinals are 13-5 in the last 18 meetings with Florida.

The Marlins were in the hunt in both the division and the Wild Card but a horrible August has basically ended their season. The win last night was the first time Florida had put together back-to-back wins since July 30-31 showing just how bad of a run it has been. It has been even further out that the Fish won back-to-back games on the road. The offense put up 14 runs on Tuesday but has scored four runs or fewer in seven of the last nine games not counting that one. The Marlins are now 9-25 in their last 34 games following a win.

St. Louis looks to get a similar outing out of Todd Wellemeyer as they got from Braden Looper last night. Wellemeyer should be up to the task as he is coming off a great outing against the Astros despite shouldering the loss. He allowed just one run in seven innings which was his fifth quality performance in his last seven starts. His ERA over this span is a solid 2.70. His lone start against Florida this season was a gem as he allowed no runs on three hits in 7.2 innings in a 3-0 win.

Things have not been as good for Scott Olson as his ERA continues to climb after a very prosing start to the season. He had a 3.47 ERA through June but over the last two months, his ERA is 5.79 and of those 11 starts, only three have been quality outings. He has allowed four runs or more in three straight games and even worse he has been allowing a tin of baserunners as proven by his 1.53 WHIP. All of this put together is no surprise that the Marlins are 0-8 in his last eight starts. Play St. Louis for 1½ units.

Free Pick: Cardinals -142

[Willie Bee]

Take Twins -124 vs. Detroit Tigers

Game Time: 09/06/2008 03:55 PM -
By: Jimmy the Moose | sportspic.com

The Twins pasted a 10-2 beating on the Tigers last night to give them five wins in the last six games against Detroit. Make it six of the last seven after Minnesota's win on Saturday.

The Detroit Tigers are 3-9 in their last 12 games. Detroit has lost six of their last eight vs. AL Central opponents.

The Tigers are 7-24 in their last 31 road games vs. a team with a winning record and 4-10 in Justin Verlander's last 14 starts. Detroit has lost six of his last eight starts overall.

The Minnesota Twins are 14-3 in their last 17 home games vs. a team with a losing record. Minnesota is 43-17 in their last 60 home games. In their last 36 overall vs. a team with a losing record, the Twins are 25-11.

The Tigers have lost four of Verlander's last five starts vs. Minnesota. The Twins are 5-1 in the last six meetings. Play on Minnesota.

Free Pick: Twins -124

[Willie Bee]

Roy Oswalt, Houston Astros -102 at Colorado Rockies

Game Time: 09/06/2008 08:05 PM -
By: Al McMordie | bigal.com

After a slow start to the season, Houston's Roy Oswalt has found his former dominating ways, and that makes the Astros the play tonight at the Colorado Rockies.

Our Saturday night MLB selection is on the Houston Astros over the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field in Denver.

Roy Oswalt is back. The 31-year-old righthanded ace of the Houston rotation had a rough season early on, but lately he has been pitching like the Oswalt of old, going deep into games, controlling the strike zone, and lowering his number of free passes. It's not just that Oswalt has six quality starts in a row, but also the fact that three of these six outings were against division leaders New York, Chicago, and Arizona, and the Astros were victorious in two of those three.

In fact the Astros have been victorious in quite a few of their games lately, and just had an eight-game win streak snapped. For them, it's unfortunate that they are in the Central division, because if Houston was in either the East or West, they would be right in the thick of things going into the last month.

This is Oswalt's first start against the Rockies this season, but he has done very well against them in his career, throwing quality starts in seven of his eight lifetime starts, and winning all but two of those decisions.

Despite getting 22 starts so far in 2008, Colorado lefthander Jeff Francis has only won four times and his team only has an 8-14 record in those games. Houston is killing southpaws this season, batting .283 against them as a team. Oswalt's fingernail problem should not be a concern in this game. Take the 'Stros.

Free Pick: Astros -102